(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to missile launch systems and is directed more particularly to a missile support and alignment assembly for use on a moving vehicle, such as a submarine, having a fixed missile launch tube.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Submarines are provided with fixed launch tubes for torpedoes and other missiles and ordnance. The tubes penetrate the pressure hull of the vessel. The launch tubes are arranged in a manner consistent with safety, the architecture of the vessel, and watertight integrity. Proximate the tubes is disposed an arrangement of shelf or frame-like structures for storage of the missiles and/or other ordnance, and a handling system for selecting a weapon, aligning the selected weapon with a selected launch tube, and for feeding the selected weapon into the selected launch tube.
Because of the length-to-diameter ratio of the weapons, and their relative fragility, tolerance on the alignment of weapon and tube during loading is critical. Consequently, current designs for storage, handling and loading systems employ structures securely fixed to the hull, and are aligned with the launch tubes during construction. Such structures do not themselves provide significant shock and acoustic isolation from the hull. Accordingly, considerable effort and expense is devoted to design and analysis of the rigidly fixed structure and to partially isolating substructures to ensure adequate vibration and acoustic isolation. There is, accordingly, a need for a missile support assembly which is resiliently mounted in the submarine so as to "float" relative to the hull.
It is apparent that such a "floating" structure would not maintain a supported missile in alignment with a launch tube at all times. There is accordingly a further need for an alignment assembly which is operative on such a "floating" support to align a missile with a launch tube.